Wapsi Square Forum

Quite a nice eclipse to see, here in NorCal. Gwen and I got up around 0430, shortly before the total eclipse phase began, bundled up and watched it from our back yard until it passed the point of maximum eclipse a few minutes ago. We were blessed with very clear skies... not a given for the area at this time of year. Best lunar eclipse viewing conditions we've seen in a long time.

Which means you got up right about the same time I got home. Unfortunately, the trees in the area make it impossible to see the moon in the morning from my house. I might go out later and get a telescope that I can dock my phone to, and try getting pictures, but I promise nothing. (I'm kind of lazy about going anywhere besides work...)

Oh! Guess what? I found out how much I'll be making once I become a full employee, a process I'll be starting later this morning.

Right now, I make only $11/hr, but a Kohler employee starting as an operator (which is what I do: Take the parts produced by the machines, and do whatever we're supposed to do with them; in my case, building seats) makes $12.80 starting out.

However, second shift workers get an extra $0.45/hr, so I'll be making $13.25 an hour starting real soon. That's a $2.25/hr raise. Not bad at all. Hell, if I stay there just a little longer, or even move to a higher paying position later on, I'll be making as much as one of my parents in a relatively short while.

Noice.

Ah... I may have spoke too soon. I've called twice and gotten no answer, and from what I've been told about the hours of the HR lady (huh... It's always a woman that works in HR...), there's no way she's at lunch already today.

If I'm not able to get in contact with her before Friday, I'm just gonna tell my supervisor that I'm not gonna even bother trying anymore. After all, this is the same individual who declined to hire me for Kohler originally, requiring me to go through the temp agency instead.

Dave wrote:Quite a nice eclipse to see, here in NorCal. Gwen and I got up around 0430, ....

Arrrrgh!, I missed it! (damn, damn, damn.)

(edit), OK, so I went here: 2018 Total Lunar Eclipse Timelapse | Griffith Observatory and it was time compressed to a minute, pretty cool, so then I added THIS to my web browser and saved the video locally...

I just want to hug her and go Dawww...

That's Thistle from Daughter of the Lilies, if you were wondering. She's recently been unmasked. And, she had been masked for... reasons...

Whoo! Almost done with the night light order. I'll probably be working on them all night, because we (as in, the folks who work the same pair of machines as I do) had a couple shifts where we weren't making those, because either someone couldn't find the hinge pins to resupply us, or the second machine got switched to something else that would have made it impossible for one person to run both.

However, I'll still probably be the one to finish the order tomorrow night.

Atomic wrote:That's Thistle from Daughter of the Lilies, if you were wondering. She's recently been unmasked. And, she had been masked for... reasons...

Now i'm almost sorry i used the avatar.

SPOILERS!

Not finishing that order tonight, because they let first shift leave early to go watch the superbowl, but that's fine because I had plenty of time to prepare everything I needed for tonight.

In other news, after this next round of bills, I should be able to buy an AR-10 in two or three weeks, at most.

Alkarii wrote:In other news, after this next round of bills, I should be able to buy an AR-10 in two or three weeks, at most.

And then hope that ammunition costs don't go up, so it takes a few more months before you can buy a single round.

Just be sure you fill out the order form properly and get an AR-10, and not an OV-10 by mistake. They both take .762, I'm told, and make for excellent mobile firepower, it's just that AVgas can be expensive, too!

Atomic wrote:Just be sure you fill out the order form properly and get an AR-10, and not an OV-10 by mistake. They both take .762, I'm told, and make for excellent mobile firepower, it's just that AVgas can be expensive, too!

He could end up with the hybrid, a rifle that can hover. That could be useful.

Or they could think that he's ordering a R-10, and either send him something somewhat flammable or else some carbon tetrachloride (which isn't that flammable).

Nah, I'm getting one that shoots .308. Same dimensions as the 7.62x51mm NATO, but the NATO round has a less sensitive primer. From what I've read, you can shoot the latter in a semi auto rifle marked for the former, but trying to go the other way around causes slam firing. I haven't actually looked up the term, but I'm gonna guess it's when rounds start going off when chambered.

The reason for this is because NATO rifles tend to not have springs holding back their firing pins, and those pins can bump the round when chambered. However, I think this may not be an issue with bolt actions, but I haven't tried it.

Shit, they still make guns with floating firing pins? I thought that was done away with long ago to help prevent accidental firings.

GlytchMeister wrote:Shit, they still make guns with floating firing pins? I thought that was done away with long ago to help prevent accidental firings.

For some reason, I just visualized a floating pin rifle with a bump stock in a hovercraft on rough seas. No possible safety anywhere in that scenario!

Actually, the M4 I had didn't have a spring retaining the firing pin. What they use is a separate pin to keep it from moving a whole lot. In fact, they tend to not move much until the hammer hits them. The only springs in that rifle were the buffer spring and the hammer spring.

As for bump stocks, you'd still have to have your finger on the trigger, and you pull forward on the fore grip to create the trigger pull. The bump stock is there to act sort of like training wheels, and also keeps the butt of the weapon from bouncing off of your shoulder. You don't technically need to use a bump stock for bump fire.

Alkarii wrote:From what I've read, you can shoot the latter in a semi auto rifle marked for the former, but trying to go the other way around causes slam firing. I haven't actually looked up the term, but I'm gonna guess it's when rounds start going off when chambered.

It's when you have a semi-automatic or automatic weapon, and the firing pin gets jammed (usually due to poor--or lack of--maintenance) in the far forward position where it hits against the chambered round's primer. When the action cycles and the next round is chambered, the primer "slams" up against the stuck firing pin and the round fires without you even pulling the trigger. And that cycles the action again, and when the next round in line is chambered, it can repeat the process. So your semi-automatic can end up firing off its entire magazine without you even touching the gun. Which can be a bit awkward and embarrassing in the wrong circumstances.

The SKS is supposedly very notorious for that sort of thing, though I've only known of one to do it one time.

Holy crap. Yeah... that’s... that’s bad.

It's *almost* a shame that the M89SR isn't generally available.

Almost.

I mean, a Designated Marksman weapon with a 22" barrel that has a total length, barrel tip to stock butt, of 33" that fires 7.62 NATO? Yes, please.